Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne Park
Posted by: 
ahomburg
S 37° 49.366 E 144° 58.809
55H E 322227 N 5811926
Rod Laver Arena is a part of the Melbourne Park complex located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and has been the main venue for the Australian Open in tennis since 1988, replacing the aging Kooyong Stadium.
Waymark Code: WMAHYT
Location: Victoria, Australia
Date Posted: 01/19/2011
Views: 31
Originally called Flinders Park or Centre Court, the arenas name officially changed in January 2000 to honour Rod Laver, a three-time winner of the Australian Open and one of world's greatest tennis players. The arena was finished in 1988 with a seating capacity of 14,820. The venue currently attracts over 1.5 million visitors per year.
The Arena features a retractable roof allowing competitors to continue play during rain or extreme heat. It is the centrepiece of Melbourne Park's Tennis Centre, and besides tennis, the arena hosts motorbike super-crosses, music concerts, conferences, World Wrestling Entertainment events since 2005, and ballets.
Rod Laver Arena was the centre-piece of the 12th FINA World Aquatics Championships, which were held from March 17-April 1, 2007. A temporary swimming pool, named the Susie O'Neill Pool after Australian swimming champion Susie O'Neill, was built to allow this to happen.
It hosted World Championship Wrestling in October 2000. The Rod Laver Arena played host to the gymnastics competition in the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Rod Laver Arena is equipped with the Hawk-Eye electronic system which allows tennis players to challenge the umpire's decision on calls made throughout championships.
On April 3, 1992, the arena became the home of Melbourne basketball, with the Melbourne Tigers and the South-East Melbourne Magic (later renamed the Victoria Titans in 1998) calling the venue home, both attracting big crowds in the glory days of the NBL. The largest basketball crowd was 15,366 in 1996 to see the local derby between the Magic and Tigers. Rod Laver Arena hosted 287 NBL games including NBL Championship deciders in 1992, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and played host to its last game in April 2000, before Vodafone Arena opened in 2000, the new home of Melbourne Basketball.
In 2009, the arena polled 9th out of 50 worldwide top arenas for first-quarter ticket sales, making it the second highest ticket selling venue in Australia, Second to Sydney's Acer arena which placed third.
American Heavy Metal band Metallica played five shows in Rod Laver Arena as a part of their World Magnetic Tour in 2010. The last time they had visited Australia was in 2004.
Due to overwhelming demand for tickets during the Australian leg of The Circle Tour, legendary New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi added a special arena show at the venue (the rest of the Australian tour dates were for stadiums).
Records:
On November 18, 2007, the record crowd for Rod Laver Arena was recorded when 16,183 attended Justin Timberlake's concert, as a part of his FutureSex/LoveShow tour.
In November 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment held the WWE Raw Survivor Series Tour with an attendance of 15,570 Australian WWE fans.
During the months of May, June and July of 2009 Pink performed 17 shows at Rod Laver Arena, breaking Farnham's record for most shows at the venue during one tour.
(Thanks to Wikipedia for description)
It's the home of which team(s)?: Tennis Australia
Which professional sports are played here?: Tennis
Capacity (number of seats): 14820
Opening Date: 01/11/1988
Venue's Website or Team's Website: [Web Link]
Guided Tours: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
1) Tell how was your visit. Were you at a game, which one? Have you just visited it by the outside, on a guided tour maybe? Are you a fan?
2) Pictures:
- They should be taken by YOU.
- No internet pictures are allowed.
- Upload one photo, at least. It would be great if you'd upload one of the venue and one with you on the photo.
- No need of photos with the GPSr.
- Extra credits for photos inside, with the teams playing.